


Error 2475: Heating Systems Down

by BeeWrites



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra is emotionally constipated as usual, Catrouble, Double Trouble is having none of it, Hurt/Comfort, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21865165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeeWrites/pseuds/BeeWrites
Summary: When stuck in a remote outpost for a day, Catra and Double Trouble need to figure out how to communicate when tensions start to run high.Alternate: Oh no, there’s only one bed; grouchy drama queens edition.
Relationships: Catra/Double Trouble (She-Ra)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 224





	Error 2475: Heating Systems Down

**Author's Note:**

> Had the idea for this one shot for a while now but only got around to writing it today. I have some ideas for a possible part two, but this one is a standalone work. The work is mostly motivated by the small amount of fics for this pairing - and about 2/3 of those are smut fics. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love me some good old lemons, but I'd like some variety, you know?

It was so cold. No, this was beyond cold. It felt as if the very wind itself was trying to claw the skin right off of her face. The knee-deep snow that threatened to swallow her like quicksand and the inexistent visibility did nothing to lighten her mood. Catra’s only consolidation was that she wasn’t the only one suffering in the hellscape that was the northern most part of Etheria.

A quick glance over her shoulder revealed an equally miserable looking Double Trouble trudging through the snow behind her, looking as if the universe itself had conspired to make them as miserable as possible today. 

Well, no matter. She’ll just slip a decent sized tip into their next paycheck.

Neither of them would even be out here in the first place if the damned tech crew fixed the power core like they were supposed to, instead of doing the bare minimum and then all immediately taking an assignment as far south as they could, leaving the Horde with no one to dispatch out here to fix the issue.

It had become horribly apparent exactly how dependent the Horde had become on Entrapta once she and her bots were suddenly gone. Aside from Emily. But that thing was more of a nuisance than anything.

Besides… it was better this way. Entrapta would have betrayed them sooner or later, so in a way it was better for them to be scrambling repairs wise now rather than a few months down the line during a major attack. No, she didn’t miss her. Why would she? The mechanic had been nothing but an extra thing to worry about before, another liability to keep track of, another person to worry about-

She twisted around and shouted, “Move it, or we’ll be out here all day!” at her companion.

Double Trouble raised their head and shot her a glare, saying something that was lost between the howling of the wind and the scarf wrapped around their head.

Catra stopped and straightened up, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, or at least tried to in the snow, waiting for Double Trouble to catch up and repeat “What?”

A puff of warm air seeped out of the scarf over their mouth and twisted up between them before they said “Calm down kitten. I just said, us reptilian folk aren’t made for cold climates. And unless you’ll allow me to shift into a creature more suited for the cold, I’m afraid I’m going as fast as I can.”

Catra harrumphed and turned around, her pace now slightly slower before and her tail reaching out behind her to wrap around one of their wrists. Just so that the spy won’t get lost in the snowstorm. It wouldn’t do to lose... their best asset.

She was more aware than most exactly how many dangerous creatures the Horde had thrown out here, ones that were not bad enough for Beast Island, but bad enough they needed to be away and out of their hair before they lost another battalion. 

She knew, intellectually, that if Double Trouble shifted into a creature meant for the cold, their walk would be much faster. Intellectually, she knew they wouldn’t run ahead and leave them out here alone to fend for herself. Intellectually, she knew she was causing them both more trouble by refusing to do the smart thing. But, every time she was about to turn and tell the shifter to change, the pang of anxiety made her keep her eyes ahead and keep trudging on.

After another miserable half hour of walking, cursing and occasionally falling over a particularly deep patch of snow, they arrived at the outpost.

“Well, doesn’t this place look cheery!” exclaimed Double Trouble as they slipped past her and inside the building, their tone carrying enough sarcasm to drown a small army.

Catra glanced up from the open door and had to agree. All Horde building were made with practicality in mind first and foremost, with design and aesthetics coming in at the bottom of the list of priorities. The outpost was made up of a tall building, all metal and a miserable shades of grey, different coloured patches here and there where previous soldiers and technicians had patched the tower up. There was a single window in the third and highest floor, a tiny round thing that most definitely let in no light at all. Off to the side and a little ways away was another, shorter building home to all the extra supplies any troops may need while here and which she had a sneaking suspicion no one had restocked in the last decade.

Entering the building, she was not at all surprised to find the inside was not much better. The hallway was mainly taken up by a staircase, a few doors leading to various rooms here and there, each and every one the same dull shade of grey and lacking all but the most necessary of furniture.

She could hear Double Trouble somewhere upstairs, complaining about the lack of central heating. Once again, Catra had to concede they had a point. The inside of the outpost wasn’t much warmer than the outside, a thin layer of frost covering any glass surfaces. No wonder, really, with the central energy source and transmission tower down, it was a miracle the place had been able to survive as long as it did without some wild beast exiled here making it it’s home or the Resistance finding it and taking it over.

Double Trouble’s head popped up from the second floor, a bedsheet wrapped around their shoulders “Found a sheet. The only one in this whole place, might I add. How is anyone supposed to be stationed here without going insane within the 48 hours?”

Catra rolled her eyes and started checking the rooms on the ground floor for the central command centre “No one is supposed to be stationed here for more than a day or two. The place functions just fine by itself, so long as all the systems are up.”

Catra didn’t catch Double Trouble’s reply, but judging by their tone, she summarised it was something sarcastic and overly dramatic. She could practically picture them draped over the bannister, one arm over their eyes and the other thrown out to the sky as they bemoaned their poor fortune. Her lips quirked upward as she searched on.

Finally, Catra found the command centre. She took out the busted energy core, replacing it with a new one that would hopefully mean their job here was done and they could start heading back to the equally ugly, but blessedly warm Fright Zone.

But of course, that would require things to go her way. And god knows that never happens. She could’ve sworn the big guy had it out for her.

As soon as the main computer booted up, it began listing all the different systems that were currently down, the list skimming by so fast Catra’s eyes couldn’t make out more than a word or two before it was gone and replaced with a new set of errors. The cherry on her shitty day of a pie was the final row of text;

‘Error 2475: heating systems down. Initializing self-repair procedures, please stand by. Estimated completion time: 19 hours.’

Catra silently stood from her seat, walked out of the room and to the one and only seat in the main area, sitting herself down there as she let out an enraged howl.

The noises above her head stopped for a few seconds before Double Trouble’s head popped up above the bannister again, now looking decidedly worried “What’s up, boss?”

“Systems down. Stuck here for the next 19 hours at least.” grumbled Catra as she let herself slouch back in the seat until she was halfway on the floor, tail flicking back and forth in irritation.

“Bit of a dramatic reaction, don’t you think?” Double Trouble said as they began to descent the stairs.

Catra’s head shot up, a death glare ready for them as they arrived at the landing on the ground floor “I’m the dramatic one? Who’s been whining and moaning about the weather since we set out?”

Double Trouble waved them off, heading for the pair of doors behind the stairs “I’m always dramatic, it’s part of my charm.” popping their head into each of the rooms, they turned to her, a curioud frown overtaking their face “Are there no bedrooms down here?” they asked.

Catra shook her head “Just the main control room and weapon storage. Why?”

“Ah, I see.” they rocked back on their heels -how they had managed to not trip and fall on their ass was beyond her- and gave her a charming grin that meant they would decidedly enjoy the next few minutes and Catra would decidedly not.

“Because there’s only one bed upstairs.”

Catra stared at them. Double Trouble grinned harder, rows of pointed teeth shining even in the dim light.

“No.” she said.

Double Trouble leaned back and covered their heart as if struck, a mournful expression slanting onto their face “Why, you wound me! Many would gladly be relieved of one of their arms if they got to share a bed with me for a night.”

Catra crossed her arms over her chest “No way. You’ll hog all the sheet, I can tell -don’t try to deny it, you’re doing it already- and besides, you’re freezing, I’ll never fall asleep with you next to me.”

Double Trouble sauntered over, leaning on the arm of her chair, one arm draped over the back as they gave her their best shit eating grin “Oh, I’m sure you’ll warm me up quick, kitten.”

Catra growled and shoved them away, getting up and heading upstairs to check for herself, face feeling mortifyingly warm. Stupid, smug lizard. She wanted nothing more at the moment than punch them in their pretty smug face.

She could hear the clip-clop of their heels as they followed her up and doubled her pace until she was standing at the topmost door, staring at the tiny, single bed sitting below the window with a sense of oncoming dread. 

She could feel Double Trouble exhale as they stood right behind her, causing one of her ears to flick. She slowly turned around, finding them still grinning as they leaned against the door frame.

“No.” she repeated.

“Oh, come now, do you mean me to sleep on the floor?” they asked.

After a moment she replied “Yes.”

The grin they wore slipped for a second before it was back, wider than before, but somehow appearing much less cheerful “I don’t sleep on floors, kitten.”

Catra crossed her arms and glared at them “Neither do I.”

“Sleep in the chair then.” 

Catra leaned forward and poked them in the chest “You can sleep in the chair. I’m taking the bed.”

“No need to be difficult kit-“

“I am not being difficult. Just do as I say!”

Now the grin slipped off of their face entirely as they took a step back from her “I get you’re on a power trip since getting your new position,” they cut off Catra’s sputtered denials “But, that doesn’t mean you get to treat me like one of your pet soldiers. Just because you pay me doesn’t mean you own me.”

“I know that!” she yelled, flushed with a slew of emotions she didn’t want to identify. 

“Then act like it.” they shot back.

They stared at each other in silence for a full minute, before Double Trouble finally broke their gaze with her and grumbled, turning to saunter back down the stairs and leaving the sheet to flutter to the floor “Fine, have the bed boss. I’ll go out to the storage and see if I can find some more sheets.”

“Fine, go, you drama queen!” Catra yelled after her, grabbing the sheet off of the floor and wrapping herself up as tightly as she could. She could hear Double Trouble yell something back at her from below, but ignored it in favour of curling up on the bed and settling in to watch the self-repair completion slowly drag on, one percent at a time.

It was a good long while before she was disturbed, long enough for darkness to fall outside the little window above her bed. Catra had drifted off at some point, now only awoken by the bang of the front door flying open and shut on the ground floor below.

Catra waited for a few moments, completely still, ears turned back and listening closely as anxiety rose in her chest. Were they going to come up here and demand an apology? In the hours Catra had laid there with nothing but her thoughts to occupy her time, she’d gone over all the scenarios she could think of, how she could respond to each, but still even now she couldn’t think of a way to apologize without it coming out sounding weak. And a Horde commander cannot sound weak.

Her train of thought was cut off by the sound of the door behind her sliding open. Catra stayed perfectly still as she listened to Double Trouble draw closer until they were leaning over her form, casting a shadow across her upper half. She felt one slim finger nudge her shoulder.

“Hey, boss.” they didn’t sound mad. Which only made her feel worse. They should be mad, livid with her even.

“Hm?” she got out, trying to sound like she’d been sleeping and being about 99% sure Double Trouble wasn’t buying it.

“Where’s the med kit?”

“In th-the what?” she turned over, not comprehending what that at all had to do with anything, squinting as she tried to make them out in the low light. She leaned to the side and flicked a switch, igniting the too-bright fluorescent lights above their heads. She turned back to Double Trouble and choked on the question she was about to ask.

Along their left calf spanned three long, ugly looking claw marks, each of them slowly oozing blood down their leg and foot. They were leaning heavily onto their right side, visibly shaking and missing their scarf and coat.

Catra sprung from the bed, grabbing a startled Double Trouble by the shoulders and sitting them down on the bed “What the hell happened?” she hissed as she kneeled down by their injured leg and carefully examined their wound.

“Ran into this huge bear looking beast when I was exiting the warehouse. I managed to kick it into a ravine, but it got me in the leg before I could get away. You never mentioned giant beasts in the job description, by the way.” they bit out, knuckles almost white where they gripped the mattress.

“They weren’t supposed to come this close to the outpost!” she growled, then sprang up and ran down to the communal (and only) bathroom, grabbing the med kit from below the sink and running back to the room. 

Placing the box on the ground and frantically searching through it, she bit out “Why didn’t you call me?”

She heard a snort from the bed.

“Would you have come?”

Her searching slowed for a moment, before she doubled her efforts to find what she needed before that wound got infected.

“Yes.” She answered. 

Silence was her only reply.

Slowly, she moved closer and raised their leg until it rested on her bent knee, then grabbed some disinfectant and a cotton swab from the kit “This is going to hurt.” she warned, waiting until they nodded before she began to gently swab the wound clean. She then took out some gauze and tightly wrapped the wound, neatly tying off the wrappings at the ankle. She held out a pack of pain meds without a word, quickly withdrawing her hand as soon as she saw them get a hold of the package.

Finally, she gathered the courage to raise her head to look at Double Trouble. They were pale, whole body tense, hands fisted in the mattress as they waited for the meds to kick in. Mostly though, they just looked miserable and cold, their whole body shaking like a leaf.

The pang of guilt became a gnawing ache in her chest as she took them in, her ears laid down flat against her skull and tail stiffly wrapped around her leg. 

Without a word, she raised herself up to her feet, taking the pillow from the head of the bed and putting it below Double Trouble’s ankle, then slid into the bed behind them, gently tugging them back until they were laid against her chest, back to front, and wrapped them both in the sheet.

Double Trouble stayed stiff and still against her for a few seconds, before slowly turning their head towards her and shooting her a questioning look. Catra felt herself flush and looked away from the intense stare, instead putting her focus to shifting as much of her warm body against their freezing one as she could without jostling the wound.

In the end they ended up with Double Trouble half turned on their side, pressed against her as she held them close, occasionally rubbing some warmth into their arms and back. Somewhere in the middle of the manoeuvring Double Trouble had shifted to rest their face against her neck and relaxed against her.

Then they laid there in silence, both drifting in and out of sleep, neither willing to move from the warmth and comfort, even after Catra’s pad had beeped, signalling that the repairs had been completed. 

“I’m sorry.” she whispered into their hair.

“I know.” they murmured into her neck.

There was a short pause before she felt them smile and murmur “But if I knew all I had to do to get into your bed was get a little scratched up…”

Catra threw her head back and groaned, though a small smile tugged at her lips when she felt the chuckle vibrating from their chest into hers.

“I’m surprised you don’t purr in your sleep.”

“I swear if you don’t knock it off, I’ll carry you outside and drop you headfirst into the snow.”

“No, you won’t.”

“...yea, I won’t.”

That earned her another chuckle. They settled back onto the bed, neither tired any longer but both unwilling to break the short-lived peace they’ve found in this moment, knowing soon they’ll have to get up and get back to fighting a war.

But just in this moment, they can rest.


End file.
